April 21, 2016

Have The Torture Prosecutions Begun?

The Justice Department has signaled that it won't try to block a lawsuit arising from the CIA's harsh interrogation techniques, leaving the door open for a court challenge over tactics that have since been discontinued and widely discredited.

Lawyers call the government's stance unprecedented, but also a recognition that a once-secret program is now largely out in the open. They say it's the first time the Justice Department has not sought, as its first step, to dismiss a lawsuit over the interrogation program by arguing that its mere existence is too secret to discuss in court. Judges have previously accepted that assertion, turning aside cases about a program that was designed to extract intelligence from suspected militants captured overseas.

However, there's a rather large "but" (and I like big buts, I cannot lie):

Stephen Vladeck, a national security law professor at American University, said it was too early to know the significance of the government's filing. The lawsuit might eventually be dismissed, or as the matter proceeds through discovery, the Justice Department might yet decide that it involves too many secrets after all and should be dismissed, he said.

"Whether this is going to have the consequences that I suspect the ACLU hopes remains to be seen," he said.